U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement

Fiscal Year 2020 Public Information Page 1Updated on 10-16-20

Law Enforcement At a Glance

Forensics Laboratory Scientist Special Agent in the Field Wildlife Inspector with Canine Partner FWS-led International Training

Headquarters Assistant Director, Edward Grace Deputy Assistant Director, Luis Santiago

Contact Information 703-358-1949 (Office) 703-358-2271 (Fax)

Mission: Our mission is to protect wildlife and plant resources through the effective enforcement of federal laws. By working with federal, state, tribal, and foreign enforcement agencies, and other conservation partners, we fight wildlife trafficking, help recover endangered species, conserve migratory birds, preserve wildlife habitat, safeguard fisheries, combat invasive species, and promote international wildlife conservation.

Focus: Our focus is to investigate wildlife crimes; regulate wildlife trade; help Americans understand and comply with federal conservation laws; work in partnership with federal, state, tribal, and international counterparts to conserve wildlife and plant resources; and protect our nation’s border and natural resources by interdicting illegal wildlife products and injurious species before entering or leaving the country.

Strategic Plan Goals: • Combat Global Wildlife Trafficking • Protect the Nation’s Fish, Wildlife, and Plants from Unlawful

Exploitation, Industrial Hazards, and Habitat Loss • Facilitate and Expedite Legal Trade • Enhance Management Accountability

Mailing Address U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement 5275 Leesburg Pike (MS:OLE) Falls Church, VA 22041-3803

Website www.fws.gov/le

Reward Information: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is authorized to pay rewards for information or assistance that leads to an arrest, a criminal conviction, civil penalty assessment, or forfeiture of seized property. Payment of rewards is the discretion of the Service and is linked to specific federal wildlife laws. The amount of the reward we may pay is commensurate with the information or assistance received. Please discuss the possibility of a reward with the Service personnel receiving your information or assistance.

To Report a Wildlife Crime: Email: fws_tips@fws.gov Call: 1-844-397-8477 (1-844-FWS-TIPS)

Staffed Wildlife Ports of Entry Anchorage, AK Agana, GU Atlanta, GA Baltimore, MD Blaine, WA Boston, MA Brownsville, TX Buffalo, NY Calais, ME Champlain, NY Chicago, IL Dallas/Fort Worth, TX Denver, CO Detroit, MI Dulles, VA Eastport, ID Erlanger, KY Ft. Lauderdale, FL

San Juan PR

Honolulu, HI Houston, TX Laredo, TX Los Angeles, CA Louisville, KY Memphis, TN Miami, FL New Orleans, LA New York, NY Newark, NJ Nogales, AZ Pembina, ND Portland, OR San Diego, CA

Savannah, GA Seattle, WA

Minneapolis/St.Paul, MN

Sweetgrass, MT

During FY 2020, Service wildlife inspectors processed 151,143 declared shipments of wildlife and wildlife products worth more than $3.3 billion. The Nation’s top 10 busiest ports of entry for wildlife trade are show below:

Port of Entry Shipments New York, NY 22,960 Los Angeles, CA 21,357 Newark, NJ 16,253 Louisville, KY

9,747Miami, FL 13,029

Memphis, TN 6,784 Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

7,738 Chicago, IL 7,125

Honolulu, HI 4,702 San Francisco, CA 3,652

Budget ($000) Fiscal Year

Operations Equipment Replacement

Total

2012 $61,168 $975 $62,143 2013* $56,932 $910 $57,842 2014 $63,365 $910 $57,842 2015 $65,827 $910 $66,737 2016 $73,815 $910 $74,725 2017 $74,413 $910 $75,053 2018 $76,413 $910 $77,053 2019 $78,143 $910 $79,053 2020 $80,943 $910 $81,853

*FY 2013 Sequestered Level

Agent and Inspector Staffing (as of October 1st of each fiscal year)

Fiscal Year

Number of Special Agents on Board

Number of Wildlife Inspectors on Board

2012 219 143 2013 222 140 2014 213 130 2015 211 124 2016 205 124 2017 229 126 2018 213 122 2019 215 113 2020 212 129

San Francisco, CA

El Paso, TX

Tampa, FL

Philadelphia, PA

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement

Fiscal Year 2020 Public Information Page 2Updated on 10-16-20

Educational Display at the Repository A Special Agent at DERTSU Wildlife Inspector with Seized Coral A Geneticist at the Forensics Lab

Special Agents • Break up international and domestic wildlife trafficking rings that

target protected animals and plants here and around the world.• Protect wildlife from environmental contaminants and industrial hazards. • Safeguard habitats for threatened and endangered species and

support landscape conservation. • Enforce federal migratory game bird hunting regulations, work with

states to protect other game species, and preserve legitimate hunting opportunities.

• Work with federal, state, and tribal law enforcement officers to safeguard U.S. species and their habitats, and with international counterparts to combat global wildlife trafficking and transnational organized crime.

• Train federal, state, tribal, and foreign law enforcement officers. • Conduct outreach to industry, trade groups, and others to promote

wildlife conservation and secure voluntary compliance with wildlife laws.

Wildlife Intelligence Unit • Provide Service investigators access to a multitude of law

enforcement tools and resources, which assist them to identify and disrupt wildlife trafficking networks and transnational organized criminal syndicates.

• Collect and analyze information on all aspects of wildlife trafficking to support Service investigations, inspections, andsmuggling interdiction efforts.

• Coordinate information sharing with other law enforcementagencies in the U.S. and around the world.

• Maintain a broad network of domestic and international contacts withconservation groups, trade associations, and other entities involved in, or concerned with, wildlife trade.

Wildlife Inspectors • Are stationed at major international airports, ocean ports, and

border crossings. • Serve as the Nation’s front-line defense against illegal international

trade in wildlife and wildlife products. • Inspect wildlife shipments to ensure compliance with laws and treaties

and detect illegal trade. • Prevent the introduction and interstate spread of injurious species. • Work closely with counterparts from U.S. Customs and Border

Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to maintain import/export controls andinterdict smuggled wildlife.

• Conduct inspections at international mail facilities, express carrier facilities, and passenger terminals at airports.

• Use canines to detect greater numbers of illegal wildlife and wildlife products creating additional investigations leadingto arrests and prosecution.

Special Agent Attachés • Stationed at U.S. embassies in strategic regions that are rich in both

wildlife and wildlife crime, they strengthen international partnershipsin order to protect the world’s wildlife from poaching and illegal trade.

• Gather intelligence and coordinate international investigations focusing on crimes that have a U.S. nexus.

• Provide training to build capacity with international law enforcement partners and leverage U.S. Government assets to enhance law enforcement efforts.

• Provide access to USFWS scientific resources such as the National Fishand Wildlife Forensic Lab and the Digital Evidence Recovery andTechnical Surveillance Unit.

National Eagle and Wildlife Property Repositories • Provide a central location for the receipt, storage, and distribution of

bald and golden eagles (that are found dead) and their parts. • Ship eagles and parts to enrolled Native Americans for use in religious

and cultural ceremonies. • Receive wildlife items that have been forfeited or abandoned. • Donate wildlife items for scientific or educational purposes.

National Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory • Identify the species or subspecies of pieces, parts, or products of an

animal. • Determine the cause of death of an animal. • Help wildlife officers determine if a violation of law has occurred. • Identify and compare physical evidence in an attempt to link

suspect, victim, and crime scene.• Work at the only lab in the world dedicated to crimes against wildlife.

Digital Evidence Recovery and Technical Support Unit • Consists of two programs, a digital forensic laboratory and a covert

electronic surveillance equipment unit.• Provide multi-layered expertise (both technical and investigative) to

assist field officers with large-scale and complex investigations ofwildlife crime by retrieving and analyzing computer based recordsand advanced surveillance techniques.

Investigative Cases (by fiscal year) Act Description 2017 2018 2019 2020

African Elephant Conservation Act 41 36 30 16 Eagle Protection Act 203 165 150 139 Endangered Species Act 7,279 6,727 6,256 5,631 Lacey Act 1,774 1,657 1,656 1,746 Marine Mammal Protection Act 230 208 177 108 Migratory Bird Acts 488 444 408 352 Other Federal/Foreign Law 482 567 558 904 Rhino Tiger Act 18 23 42 26 Wild Bird Conservation Act 47 42 58 58 Total of all acts 10,562 9,869 9,344 8,980

Annual Penalty Statistics (by fiscal year) Category 2017 2018 2018 2020

Criminal Fines $2.2M $6.7M $7.7M $8.9M Civil Penalties $3.6M $3.8M $608K $7.2M Prison (years) 31 57 58 18 Probation (years) 308 364 289 299